Tape-Toons recording with Steve Albini!

So my buddy Andrew from Tape-Toons called me the other night to let me know the band is going to Chicago this August to record their new album with none other than the amazing Steve Albini! They're getting the money together right now by playing some shows and selling their debut, Gravel Love, online via BandCamp. This is big news and if you like what you've heard by them, please support them by either purchasing a download of Gravel Love or, if you're in the area, going to see them at any of these upcoming shows:

7/23/11 Rubber City Noise Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
7/29/11 Stone Tavern, Kent, Ohio

These guys are the real deal and their recording with Albini could be a real game changer, so support 'em now and you can say you heard them first! You can get more info as to their goings on at their Facebook page and get Gravel Love while you're at it. The download is great and only seven dollars, though you really should get a physical copy if you go to one of their shows. The packaging is completely handmade for each individual copy of the album, so every copy is totally unique. Seriously, you'll be sorry if you don't check these guys out soon, they're gonna rock your socks off!




PS - The BandCamp widget thing is a little weird so I wanted to note that you can check out the whole album with it, just click on the little triangle pointing downward next to the song name to choose other songs.

Tape-Toons - Gravel Love in Kent, Ohio

Late in the summer, I paid a visit to my friend Bobby at KSU. We talked music, video, work, etc. and then I mentioned that, at least at that time, I was considering starting a small record label. He asked me if I was looking for talent and I answered that the label would only handle small reissues. He was a little disappointed but then told me I had to hear this band he had been shooting a video for. We went into one of the computer labs and he punched up the myspace page for the Tape-Toons and proceeded to play their song, Mice In The Walls. It was bluesy in a way similar to the Black Keys but the performance was a lot rawer, and I mean that in every instance of the word. The vocals could have been recorded in a professional studio or on a hand-held recorder, the guitars are beautifully rough as though positioned somewhere between Kurt Cobain and a brain-damaged Jimi Hendrix and the percussion keeps you at attention as it gently moves a little off beat only to come back solid as hell. I was excited to say the least!

I asked to hear more, but what Bobby played me sounded like David Yow from the Jesus Lizard singing alongside unmixed, out-of-sync multitracks from a noise band. I wasn't sure what to make of that other than to say I was intrigued. Turns out something must have been wrong with the computer because that's NOTHING like what Tape-Toons sound like, but it didn't turn me off in the least. I asked him to see if he could get me a copy of their album and a week or two later he brought me a fully packaged and mastered CD. The package was actually created from newspaper with a handwritten track list and a giant stamp imprint on the front with the band's name and that of the CD, Gravel Love. I asked if this has been made specifically for me as it looked so unique, to which he explained the band wanted all of the CDs to be unique unto themselves so they had created the stamp, used different inks for each cover and created each case from newspaper themselves. I was impressed, but then I listened to the CD. It fulfilled on the promise of Mice In The Walls, coming across like a personalized performance from the band in your living room. It's by no means overly produced but rather an accurate representation of their sound, loose and beautifully ragged. Tracks like the heavy rave-up of She Drove A Spike, the slowed-down throwback rock of Rush To The Cemetery with it's insane drumming, the grungy depression of CEO Blues, they all got under my skin like so many heartfelt records have before. And then there is their beautiful cover of Pavement's Grounded. By now, I was reconsidering the whole not signing anyone to the label thing. Of course, shortly thereafter I lost my job and the dreams of a label went up in smoke, for the time being at least, but I knew I had to write about how great these guys are.

The Tape-Toons are Andrew Bittaker on guitar and vocals, Allen Bittaker on bass and Dylan Gomez on drums. Their album, Gravel Love, is available for purchase at their live shows with a digital release soon to be issued, and they also have an EP on iTunes named Blah BlaH which features two songs from Gravel Love and four more not on the album. They've got Facebook and MySpace pages they update frequently and are performing live at the Europe Gyro in Kent, Ohio alongside The Lorax Tree and Shank Bone, so you should get yourself there and let these guys blow you away!

And now, for your listening pleasure, with the blessing of Tape-Toons I've got two tracks from Gravel Love for you to check out. I've already posted Mice In The Walls but Rush To The Cemetery is new to these parts so grab 'em and enjoy! When their album becomes available online I'll be sure to post a link for you to check it out. Now go see them Thursday!

Tape-Toons - Mice In The Walls

Tape-Toons - Rush To The Cemetery

The Red Devils - King King / Blackwater Roll

In case you weren't familiar with the Red Devils prior to the Jagger session post, here is their only full-length, King King, named after the Hollywood club they played regularly and recorded there entirely live. I've also included the Blackwater Roll EP, their only other official release.


The Red Devils - King King
Part One
Part Two

01 Automatic
02 Goin' To The Church
03 She's Dangerous
04 I Wish You Would
05 Cross My Heart
06 Tail Dragger
07 Devil Woman
08 No Fightin'
09 Mr. Highway Man
10 I'm Ready
11 Quarter To Twelve
12 Better Cut That Out


The Red Devils - Blackwater Roll

01 Blackwater Roll
02 Mr. Highway Man
03 The Backstreet Crawler
04 The Hook

Mick Jagger & The Red Devils - The Famous Blues Session

This is a recording I found out about via Dan Leroy's book The Greatest Music Never Sold. I remember reading an online review of the book where someone complained that a chapter about Mick Jagger's solo work from his later career shouldn't be a concern of anyone, but they must not have read the book because Mick has very little to do with the story.

The Red Devils were a blues-rock band from LA featuring members of The Blasters (Bill Bateman, drums) and The Knitters (Johnny Ray Bartel, bass) but the majority of the focus fell on the band's vocalist and harmonica player, Lester Butler. Not to ignore the other band members (Dave Lee Bartel and Paul Size, both guitarists), but Lester got a lot of hype for his presence and the band got signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings where they released one album, King King in 1992, and an EP in 1994. The album is considered a classic and Rubin gets props for recording the band live without overdubs to capture their vibe, but he had bigger things in store for them.

While producing Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit, it was decided that the Devils would back Mick on a collection of classic blues covers. What followed was described by the band as Mick, whom they had just met, essentially becoming one of the guys and they all fell in love with him. An album's worth of songs were recorded but sat in the vault with no promise of release. Mick had said he loved the recordings and might release them as an album unto itself, but his relationship with the band became strained when he stopped communicating with them regularly. A few shows were performed in the UK with the Devils as his backing band but, apart from that, zilch.

The Red Devils were still working with Rick Rubin, but that became short lived as well. They did some sessions with Johnny Cash, played live with Bruce Willis at Planet Hollywood events and recorded a second album with Rubin on production, but that album remains unreleased and tracks from the Cash sessions wouldn't see the light of day until after his death. Lester Butler began showing signs of drug addiction and his relationship with the group became strained. Rubin, a notoriously anti-drug individual, probably used this as his excuse to stop working with the band, and it was one of many factors that lead to their downfall.

Lester went on to play in the band 13 and continued performing sporadically until his death at the age of 38. In 1998 he suffered an overdose and the two individuals he was with decided to inject him with cocaine rather than perform any lifesaving measures or call 911.

The band has reformed a few times since Lester's death but they openly acknowledge that it will never be the same without him.

As for the recordings with Jagger, the Devils themselves couldn't even get a copy of the tapes, at least not by any direct methods. A few stories circulate about how a tape was acquired, one involving Lester somehow receiving a very poor quality cassette and selling it to bootleggers, but other members of the band have insinuated that a copy was dubbed for them by a secretary at American Recordings, leading to far superior copies circulating. Regardless, apart from one track having been released on a 2007 compilation of Mick Jagger recordings, the sessions remain shamefully unreleased, at least officially.

So, it is with great pleasure that I present to you a copy of these infamous sessions from, of all places, an actual "silver" bootleg CD. Yeah, the quality isn't the greatest, but that's to be expected. I've seen the sessions around elsewhere but I don't recall having heard a superior copy, so I'll be posting these goodies from that silver disc for your listening pleasure. Maybe someday Rick and Mick (a supergroup begging to be formed folks!) will come to some kind of agreement and these recordings could be given an official release, but until then, we'll just have to settle for second hand copies of these great tracks.

If you'd like more info on the Red Devils, please visit No Fightin'. They've done a rather nice job covering the story of the band with lots of press clippings, photos and videos to delve into!


Mick Jagger & The Red Devils - The Famous Blues Session


01 Blues With A Feeling (Take 1)
02 Blues With A Feeling (Take 2)
03 Blues With A Feeling (Take 4)
04 Blues With A Feeling (Take 5)
05 I Got My Eyes On You (Take 2)
06 Still A Fool (Take 3)
07 Still A Fool (Take 4)
08 Checkin' Up On My Baby (Take 3)
09 One Way Out (Take 1)
10 One Way Out (Take 2)
11 Talk To Me Baby (Take 2)
12 Evil (Take 2)
13 Evil (Take 3)
14 Evil (Take 4)
15 Ain't Your Business (Take 3)
16 Shake 'Em On Down (Take 1)
17 Somebody Loves Me (Take 3)
18 Dream Girl Blues (Take 1)
19 Dream Girl Blues (Take 3)
20 40 Days 40 Nights (Take 1)
21 40 Days 40 Nights (Take 2)